Starting from a motorcycle that won’t go, Ryan Gosling has played a horror driver, becoming the new ambassador for the famous watch brand TAG Heuer passionate about racing, Ryan Gosling has reflected on his speed. life.

From a “dirty” motorcycle to a super-precise Swiss watch

“La La Land” star Ryan Gosling can remember exactly when he first felt free. That was when he was at a young age, rushing to find his way on a motorbike.

Growing up in Ontario, Canada, the son of a sales father, a secretarial mother, and a marriage that only lasted until he was a teenager, a friend of his brought his car to him. machine in Gosling’s house for several months, to hide from his mother’s “eyes and ears”.

Although the car was so dilapidated that it couldn’t be driven, “just sitting on it all day” and imagining it was satisfying enough. “The happiest moments of my life were when I was riding the BMX around the street. Those were my first experiences of independence, when I was no longer the dependent sitting in the back. I was the controller. control” – the Hollywood star who was bullied at school recalled.

As an underground charm, the breakthrough film for Ryan Gosling’s career is called Drive (Super Driver, 2011), in the role of a driver whose side job is to transport criminal gangs.

Despite his blockbuster hits, from Oscar-winning The Big Short, to La La Land, he always finds a way to return to a passionate role – a driver – or an action-taker who always has fast-paced moments. melancholy degree.

Ryan Gosling shared: “I know not everyone has a connection with motorcycles, but most people probably have some kind of emotional connection with cars. Cars can become a real character in a car. So when they make great characters, it means a lot to me. They can be heroes, like [Steve] McQueen’s ‘Fastback’ from Bullitt or DeLorean. in Back To The Future, or villains, such as the semitruck in Duel.”

It is therefore not surprising that the first brand Gosling decided to sign with was TAG Heuer – a luxury Swiss watch brand known for its racing heritage.

“I’ve never really felt connected to other brands in the past,” says Gosling. “But the decision to work with TAG Heuer was pretty easy. They’re an iconic, quiet and consistent in its field for 160 years.”

Legend has it that when Jack Heuer, great-grandson of founder Edouard Heuer, was dropped from first place to third in a race in Switzerland in 1958, it was partly because he couldn’t read the clock on the dashboard accurately. That’s why Carrera – named after one of the world’s deadliest races Carrera Panamericana – appeared five years later. Elegantly minimalist with optimal readability, ideal for drivers who need to know the time instantly under intense competitive pressure.

Vehicle and speed

What better connection speed than action movies. “When I was growing up, I also loved action movies. Action movies are part of the reason I love movies. I’m curious about actors whose jobs I enjoy the most.”

For The Place Beyond The Pines, he even performed many of his own stunts, some of which were truly hair-raising. “The director wanted to shoot all the theft scenes in a single, long shot. That included riding a motorbike on the street, pulling into a bank, robbing and then running away. So when it had to be done. all of that 20, 25 times, which feels pretty bad. The logistics in scenes like that are very important, having to ‘clear’ all traffic, drive to the back of the truck. So no there may be times of collision.”

Of course, some phases use techniques. “I wish I could do it all myself. But I understand why the insurance company would want to stage a driving scene in ‘Death Globe’.” (The Globe of Death is a giant netball where riders perform dangerous motorcycle stunts.)

Life’s Speed: ‘You Drive, You Own!’

From Disney child actor, Ryan Gosling is always looking for roles that belong to him. It could be a sex doll lover (Lars And The Real Girl, 2007) or a spy (The Gray Man, with “Captain America” Chris Evans).

He hasn’t finished filming The Gray Man yet, but is impressed with the director – the Russo brothers (who also directed several Marvel movies). Part of this is due to witnessing the shot in a large Prague square, so elaborate that it took almost a month and involved so many things, vehicles, guns and explosions, that it was filmed safely. It’s all very impressive.”

But what he got most from the film was the instruction from the Russo brothers in the scene: “Drive as if you own.”

Ryan Gosling is very fond of this advice, because most directors will be “hesitating to take a movie out of the garage”. That would be general advice for any fearless action actor. Or something deeper, with the young Gosling sitting in the garden immobile every day: You drive, you own!

If the actors brought home a few small objects from the set as a souvenir, Ryan Gosling brought home cars, from the motorbike in The Place Beyond The Pines to the car in Drive. Sometimes, he still let them run into the street, and no one noticed.

But the thing is, his daughters are not aware of Gosling’s roles. The only hero the girls are known for is their mother, in My Brother The Pig, about a boy who is turned into an animal. “My Brother The Pig was a huge hit. By the way, I recommend you watch it. Eva is great. Look, it’s the happy moments that are worth the time.”